Windows 7 – the Newest Version of Windows – Is It Right for You?

by Bob Mugge 11/8/09

As our experience with Windows 7 is very brief, this article is not so much a summary of the features of Windows 7 as it is a guide for the members of TVCUC who want to know if the newest Windows operating system is something they should buy and install. In other words, is it worth the trouble? The last meeting presentation briefly touched on some new features of Windows 7 that improve the look and feel of Vista. Most reports say Windows 7 loads and runs somewhat faster than Vista.

There are three major versions of Windows 7 that you might consider: Home Premium (equivalent to Vista Home Premium), Professional, and Ultimate. You can check the relative features of these three Windows 7 versions using this link: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/compare/default.aspx

After reading about the features of Windows 7, the answer to the question, in two parts, depends on your individual situation.

Part 1 of the answer concerns the age and capabilities of your present system.

The best way to find out if your system is capable of running and a good candidate for Windows 7 is to run the Windows 7 upgrade advisor available free from this link (press Ctrl+click on the link or copy and paste into your internet browser):

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx

The advisor will generate a report of how your system hardware and software will perform using Windows 7.

If you are satisfied with your current system, have no problems with its speed of operation, and aren’t envious of all the hype about new and different applications for your PC, don’t bother upgrading. If all you want to do is e-mail your kids and do occasional internet searches, Windows 7 isn’t necessary. But remember that the problem with older systems is the difficulty in adding new features and programs because the hardware won’t support them. Bigger hard drives and memory can be added, but sometimes that isn’t enough. Technology keeps advancing, whether we want it to or not.

If you desire the newest features available on newer PCs, especially concerning video and pictures, and your present system doesn’t report favorably using the advisor, perhaps you should consider a new system. Most all the systems available today have Windows 7 already installed, and therefore won’t require the headaches of upgrading. Both desktops and laptops can be purchased at very reasonable prices right now.

In the meeting we briefly discussed the XP mode available in Windows 7 Professional, but did not cover the details very well. This might be useful for some users who have application programs or attached equipment that will not run under Vista and are looking for a way to resolve these problems. However, this requires your system to be capable of hardware virtualization. There is probably no documentation furnished with your system that tells you if you have this capability. For these users I suggest you download and run a simple free program to determine this. You can get it here: http://www.grc.com/securable.htm

Part 2 deals with the details of changing to the new version.

If you are currently running Vista, Windows 7 can be installed as an upgrade and may be a relatively painless experience.

If you are running XP or a prior version like 98 or 2000 or ME as your operating system (OS), changing your present system to Windows 7 is going to be more painful.

I suggest that you use the following link to read a more detailed discussion of the particulars of upgrading from Vista or XP. Under the main title “Upgrading to Windows 7” there are three tabs. Click on the Windows XP tab (has an overview and steps 1-5) or the Windows Vista tab (has an overview and steps1-2) to see the detailed procedures:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/upgrade?os=winvista

Hope this helps! Good luck!